


Memories Lost

by 1000PaperCranes



Series: Rabbit Canon [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, Chapter 4 is Not Story (Sorry), Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Godric's Hollow, Harry Potter Books Only, Head Injury, I need your help, No Beta: We die like mne, Now with Editing, Only Three Chapters, POV Third Person, Plot Hole Filler, Sirius Black Needs a Hug, almost canon compliant, please read it anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:21:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24275776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1000PaperCranes/pseuds/1000PaperCranes
Summary: As All Hallows Day drew to a close, Rubeus Hagrid dropped out of the sky onto Privet Drive in possession of an orphaned child and an abandoned motorcycle.  But how did he come to have them?He took them from Sirius Black, of course.  Though, that is rather more simple than what actually happened...
Relationships: Harry Potter & James Potter, Harry Potter & Severus Snape, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter & Severus Snape, Rubeus Hagrid & Harry Potter, Sirius Black & Harry Potter, Sirius Black & James Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Peter Pettigrew & James Potter, Sirius Black & Rubeus Hagrid, Sirius Black & Severus Snape
Series: Rabbit Canon [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1897585
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

Sirius would always remember this night.

Things might not be perfect, not really, but tonight felt it. After months of captivity, they had ventured out into Godric’s Hollow for a few hours, under the cover of night and with the anonymity of some excellent costumes. Halloween was quite the spectacle in the wizarding world, and they had blended right in with all the other families in the small, mixed community. They had avoided speaking to adults, but there was no need to be concerned about drawing attention to themselves. Barmy old Bathilda Bagshot, who lived just up the street, had been charming her hedges to insult people and make spooky noises all evening, to the delight of the neighborhood children.

As well as James and Sirius.

It had been almost painful to come home, but when Harry had begun to shiver, they had all agreed it was time. If Sirius was being honest with himself, it had been a relief, too. And not just because he had gotten the best spot in front of the fireplace. Their odd little family had piled in the front door and James had thrown the bolt home with a reassuring thock.

They had gotten away with it.

They celebrated by munching on sweets and entertaining Harry. Harry’s pet rabbit, Jack, had even gotten in on the action, standing on his hind legs and pawing at long strands of soap bubbles blown back and forth by James and Lily. Sirius had held the giggling babe in his lap until Jack, his hindquarters dragging, had climbed onto Harry’s legs for a kip. Harry had gently, if clumsily, patted the rabbit until he had decided that bubbles really were more interesting. Then it was his turn to be monkey in the middle, which he demanded, loudly.

That was an hour ago. Sirius looked down at Jack the rabbit dozing in his lap. The animal was tuxedo black except for a bold white crescent that wrapped around one side from nearly his spine to his navel, supposing rabbits had navels. Jack’s fur was velvety between Sirius’ fingers as he mused at the little animal.

The rabbit had stayed with them all night, hopping along happily at their ankles. More invested in the crabapples scattered along the walk than in guising, Jack had hopped ahead and fallen behind mostly without Sirius’ notice. He had been far more involved in keeping the edges of his costume crisp and preening for Harry’s amusement. Harry had been far more interested in all the Halloween decorations and had been quite intent on babbling about them to his roaming pet, twisting and turning to keep the handsome rodent in his sights as his parents carried him door to door.

Lily’s gossamer wings glittered in the fireplace light as she leaned over for another handful of candied nuts and dried fruit to share with Harry. Dressed as a pumpkin, Harry had turned a handsome profit, nearly filling the turnip pail his father had transfigured for the event. Sirius looked up at James to make a clever pun about Harry’s charms, but stopped short.

James’ face looked wrong. The charm they had used to turn themselves into dapper sugar skeletons was still firmly in place and warped eerily with the suspicious frown James was directing at the window. Sirius turned to examine the night outside, too, but saw nothing.

Twitching sharply beneath Sirius’ hand, Jack the rabbit tumbled from his lap. He hopped over to the window. After a moment of staring up at the underside of the sill, the rabbit began to investigate the baseboards.

“What’s with him?” Sirius asked. Better yet, “What’s with you?” he asked James.

James scowled down at the turnip. His mouth twisted as though he wanted to speak but the stitches drawn on his lips prevented it.

Lily announced that she was putting Harry to bed.

James shook himself, taking Harry from his wife and cuddling him tightly despite the poking stem on his pumpkin-cap hat. “I love you, Harry. To the moon and back, until the stars fall out of the sky,” James whispered into his son’s cheek. “I _promise_.”

Lily was looking at her husband skeptically, but Sirius thought she had not actually heard him. He had barely heard what James had said down here on the floor. When James finally loosened his hug, receiving a bewildered look from Harry, Sirius leaned over the turnip, pecking the boy on the temple.

“Good night, pup.” If he knew what was to happen next, he would have said something better.

“We shouldn’t have done this,” James said to the turnip when Lily and Harry were gone.

“No,” Sirius agreed. It was stupidly dangerous. “But we did.” He took a honey-crusted almond from the pail. “We’re home safe again. We’ve gotten away with it.”

“I suppose.” James directed his concerns to the window. “But I can’t help feeling that we’ve been followed. That something is out there.” A visible chill ran up the former auror’s back.

Sirius levitated James closer, intending to warm his spirits with the fire at their backs. He wrapped his arm around James. “Even if they did, we’ve disappeared on them.” Their secret was safe, they had to believe that. Stepping onto the property should have looked as though they had apparated away, however unwise that would have been with a baby.

James sighed. “I suppose you’re right.” That did not stop them both from watching Jack finish his careful circuit of the room. It was odd behavior for a rabbit. He scrambled up into James’ lap, staring pointedly at the man’s face, whiskers twitching rapidly. “You feel it, too, eh?” Jack’s ears flicked in response.

The front door exploded inward.

Death Eaters flooded into the room amid the rain of splintered wood. Sirius cast a shield charm just in time to block a ragged oaken missile from impaling him through the face. They leapt to their feet. James squared up to Voldemort, ignoring the crush of wizards in elf-skull masks. Sirius did not ignore them, but for a moment, no one attacked. Time stretched and contorted as Sirius took stock of the horrific odds they faced, his stomach simultaneously in his throat and sinking past his knees. At the back of the group of death eaters, one pair of eyes bore a different light. The bone white mask nodded discretely. Dumbledore’s spy was among them.

“James! What happened? James!” Sirius heard Lily’s footsteps pounding on the staircase, but he never spared her a glance. He kept his focus squarely on the forces invading their living room.

“Lily,” James ordered, “take Harry and go! It's him!” The death eaters burst into action and Sirius fought. “Go! Run! I'll hold him off!” James yelled, before she could reach them.

James put his back to the stairwell, shooting a lavender fireball at Voldemort.

 _“Gravistaigus!”_ Sirius hexed the man in front of him through the floorboards. To his left he threw a blasting curse, slamming a skulking death eater into that damned window.

Across the room, the spy attacked his fellows, cutting them down with vicious efficiency.

 _“Dirrumdiffluo!”_ James roared, advancing on Voldemort behind a crackling fuchsia corkscrew of magic.

Voldemort deflected the curse into the fireplace, knocking out the flames and plunging them into near darkness.

A terrible electrical shock caught Sirius in the shoulder. He snarled, whirling to defend, only to see the death eater consumed in a flash of burgundy light, a sound like boiling erupting from the man. Sirius turned to the source of the spell. Three black-cloaked forms picked out in the multicolored flashes of spell-light brandished their wands behind the battling man Sirius believed to be his ally.

Oh, no, you don’t! Casting an overpowered charm into the ground, Sirius caused the roots of nearby trees to rise up through the floor and impale the three backstabbing death eaters.

“ _Reducto!_ ” the spy bellowed, demolishing another death eater with a horrible sizzle.

The room was suddenly still and quiet. The death eaters had been defeated. Sirius locked eyes again with the spy. He knew without looking that the place to his right where James had fought was empty.

By silent and instant agreement, Sirius and the spy made a break for the nursery.

They leapt over the limp bodies on the floor and Sirius shoved the knowledge that one of them was James from his mind as they pelted up the stairs.

When Sirius reached the landing, Lily had already taken the killing curse head on. Harry stood in his crib. Voldemort was laughing, his wand trained on Harry’s forehead.

Sirius raised his wand, a desperate stopping charm on his lips, but Voldemort spoke first. A sinister green light flashed in the room. A concussion of magic detonated, bursting outward from Voldemort, vaporizing him. An instant later the shockwave hit Sirius, launching him backward into the wall.


	2. Chapter 2

A mighty wail woke Sirius. There was a ringing in his ears, and he thought he might be deaf in the right one. He shoved his way out from under boards and thatching. His bones creaked in protest, but he had to get up. Barely finding his feet, Sirius stumbled slowly towards the sound.

Harry.

The sound was Harry.

Part of a wall still stood in the demolished house. Sirius rounded it to find Severus Snape, battered and tattered, standing amid the rubble, two wands trained in the direction of Harry’s screams. Black, dusty bunny ears stuck up from the top of Snape’s head.

Sirius clutched onto the doorjamb. For a moment all he could do was stare.

“You?” Sirius croaked, feeling lightheaded. One of the rabbit ears twitched towards him. Snape must have splinched himself a bit when he had reversed the transformation.

“Yes. Me,” Snape said tersely. He was concentrating rather hard on whatever it was he was doing that required two wands.

“Is that James’ wand?”

“Yes!” Snape snapped.

What would Snape want with James’ wand? And why had he stopped to pick it up amid the invasion? He couldn’t have known it would work for him.

“What are you doing?” Sirius was usually smarter than this, but he had taken the brunt of Voldemort’s explosion to the chest and had his bell rung rather hard on the stairwell.

“Holding the house up!”

He was not.

In fact, the upstairs bedroom they were standing in was now located next to the living room. Though, it was rather more intact than the rest of the building. The exposed roof sloped low, resting atop the frame of the small nursery window, which now sat on the ground, and it nearly brushed Snape’s upstanding ears.

“Want help?” Sirius offered.

“NO!” Snape shouted, sparing him a quick glare. “I want you to _get_ help!”

The background din of Harry’s screams penetrated the fog in Sirius’ head. Right. Harry was buried under there.

“If you can hold it up, I can get him out.” Sirius took a step towards them, but the whole place shifted. Timbers scraped and plaster cracked, dust puffed out of every crevasse, and the glass in the nursery window finally shattered. Sirius stopped in his tracks, hands reaching uselessly in the thick air. “Severus?”

“He needs better help than ours,” Snape said with a surprising note of understanding and no small amount of exasperation.

Meeting Snape’s eyes one last time, Sirius backed clumsily out of the room. After stumbling around the wall, and again and again while gaining hardly any ground, Sirius transformed into Padfoot. He scrambled from the house, hoping not to bring what remained down on Harry and Snape.

\--

Running as fast as his four legs would carry him, Sirius headed for the grove where he hid his motorcycle. It was too loud to drive into Godric’s Hollow, not when they wanted to keep a low profile, but he cursed the acres of trees between him and the machine. If only he trusted himself to apparate! As he was, he would end up splinched a far sight worse than having the wrong ears sprouting from his skull.

The last thing Harry needed was for him to get stuck before he found the Order.

Finally reaching the bike, Padfoot released his transformation, stumbling on shaking legs to collapse against the impeccable vehicle. All this destruction and not a scratch on it. How _dare_ it.

Fire burned up his throat and into his eyes. Suddenly, Sirius was sobbing tears and snot onto the motorcycle’s fine leather seat.

James was dead.

James was dead. Lily was dead, too, but _James_ was _dead_.

How had this happened? They were supposed to be safe. Everyone was to believe that _he_ was James’ Secret Keeper and he was stashed away with them. Surely, Snape had known, but that was Lily’s doing, no doubt. Sirius had always wondered about their sudden fission, but now he knew. Snape _had_ become a death eater, and Lily had known it.

And known it to be _fake_.

Sirius’ mind swirled. It shot over images of a shadowy figure disapparating from Lily’s kitchen on a dozen different days. It ricocheted from a pile of bandages banished from the bathtub to Jack the rabbit looking positively put-upon as he allowed baby Harry to pull his ears to Snape standing over tufts of fire-bright hair peeking through the chunks of plaster and fieldstone. He saw James’ wand in Snape’s hand despite his body being trapped in the living room, crushed beneath the remains of the ceiling and the roof.

 _“James!”_ Sirius wrapped his fists in his hair, pulling. “James.” Through his teeth, Sirius forced a sawing breath. Gray receded from his vision.

James, Sirius realized like a stab in the lung, must have known, too. He had intercepted Snape —who had only taken Sirius’ advice about the Whomping Willow in a suicidal bent— and saved him from meeting Moony. Though, Sirius seriously doubted that Moony would have done anything too terrible to Snape; the werewolf was not the same wild beast the Marauders had met their first full moon. But only the five of them and Dumbledore knew about that. There was no reason for Lily to have suddenly started spending her time with James, whom she had despised, unless they were backing Snape’s endeavors as a spy together.

What a bleeding _mess_.

And all thanks to Peter Fucking Pettigrew. _That TRAITOR!_

A scream ripped free from Sirius’ chest.

James was dead. And it was all Peter’s bloody fault! How could so many years be put to waste? How could Peter keep Remus’ secret and not James’? Sirius screamed again.

It was all his fault. He had been the one to convince James to take make a last-minute tactical switch in Secret Keepers. He had been the one worried that the werewolf had been used to _force_ Remus to become the mole within the Order. Gah! Remus who would _never_ betray anyone, let alone James and Harry and Lily.

Peter had always been a little bit… sycophantic. Sirius had stupidly believed that the little rat loved them enough to keep all their secrets. But all of their _other_ secrets were also Peter’s secrets, weren’t they?

How could he have been so _stupid!_ Sirius screamed again, letting the howl draw out long into the night.

It was done, now. James was dead. Sirius was alone.

Sirius was on his own, and Harry was relying on him. He needed to be going. Snape was frightfully powerful, but not even he could keep up a spell the required two wands indefinitely. Wiping his face on his gritty shirt, Sirius got himself under control. He could cry for them later. And hate himself for being Peter’s Secret Keeper while he’d let the rat sell them all out. Later.

Now was for finding help.

He kicked the motorcycle to life, barreling out the far side of the wood and into the sky. Turning hard toward Hogwarts, Sirius poured every ounce of magic he had left into the bike. Go! Go fast! There isn’t much time!


	3. Chapter 3

The castle was a welcome sight, jutting up into the night sky, but Sirius didn’t much appreciate it. He skidded down across the lawn, no doubt earning himself the ire of both Argus Filch and Professor Sprout, the new Herbology witch. Whatever. There were very few people more capable than he and Snape combined and Sirius would hopefully find all of them here.

Himself a former Auror, Sirius forced the sealed doors of the school open. Up the grand staircase he sprinted, heading straight for McGonagall’s office. He had no chance of passing the gargoyle guarding the Headmaster’s office uninvited, but he’d broken into McGonagall’s office before. Her rooms were behind it and couldn’t be much more secure.

“Sirius! Sirius Black!”

He turned to find this year’s Defense teacher running at him from a side corridor. Randalin Stout was a member of the Order and a fine Unspeakable. She hated teaching with a burning passion, though she somehow remained irrepressibly happy.

Her brow was furrowed and she was frowning at him. “What are you doing here?” She demanded, catching up to him with ease.

“Attack in… Godric’s Hollow,” Sirius panted. He hadn’t realized he was so tired. “Need McGonagall… get Dumbledore.”

“They aren’t here.”

Sirius stumbled to a stop. He nearly collapsed to the floor. They were running out of time!

“I’ll go get them. Stay here.” Randi disappeared into a hidden corridor.

Stay here? Sirius scoffed. Like sod he was going to stay here! He gathered himself up off the wall and ran back down the corridor. Randi could round up the Order, _he_ had to get back to Harry and Snape.

Outside, Rubeus Hagrid had stood up his bike and was helpfully tramping flat the divots Sirius had made in the lawn. “Oi, Sirius! What seems ter be the trouble?”

“No time, Hagrid.” Sirius threw his leg over the motorcycle. “Have to get back to the Hollow.”

“The Hollow?” Hagrid slapped one of his large hands down on the gas tank, effectively grounding the flying motorbike. “Has summat happened ter Lily and James?”

“Yes.” Sirius fixed the gargantuan man with the most impatient look he owned.

“Take me with yeh.”

With barely a nod from Sirius, because there was not time to argue, Hagrid straddled the bike and they sped into the sky. Once they were well on their way South, Hagrid reached up for the handlebars, fairly swaddling Sirius.

“I’ll get us there,” Hagrid assured. “Yeh try ter get some rest.”

“I don’t think I could.” Sirius did not try to take control of the bike back, though. Instead, he stared forward into the unfairly starry sky. How could he ever rest when Harry was in danger?

The next thing Sirius knew he’d been hit in the face by a grebe over Wales. They were nearly back to Godric’s Hollow and it was just beginning to catch dawn. Sirius felt his stomach twist. How many hours had Snape been holding that spell? Was he still managing or had the house come down on his rabbit-eared head?

And on _Harry_.

Godric’s Hollow appeared in the distance and suddenly it seemed as if they weren’t getting any closer. Sirius looked around at the treetops skimming along beneath them. Surely, Padfoot could run faster. Then suddenly they were dropping into the street in front of the Potter’s demolished cottage.

Sirius tripped over himself scrambling off the bike, his head swimming like he was suddenly inside a fishbowl on a rocking chair, and teetered on numb legs to the nursery window. He flattened himself to the ground, looking inside. In the moment it took his eyes to adjust to the darkness, he imagined a thousand deaths for Harry. When his vision finally cleared, things were almost as he’d left them.

Snape still stood. He was bleeding down the leg from a wound Sirius hadn’t noticed before, and soaked through with sweat. The remains of his death eater robes had disintegrated. Most of the rest of Snape’s clothes had gone as well. In a ravaged singlet and a savaged pair of dragonhide chausses, barefoot, and topped up with sagging bunny ears, he looked quite mad. Snape seemed not to notice Sirius as he focused on the cranny where Harry was buried and silent.

Sirius pointed his wand at the spot, too, casting a shield charm before he dared to speak. “Help’s here.”

Snape startled violently, collapsing involuntarily down into Jack the rabbit. The rabbit turned to stare crossly at Sirius.

“Sorry.” Sirius cringed. “Should only be a minute.”

Jack’s ears turned and together they listened to Hagrid pick his way clumsily through the rubble. As the mountainous man neared the room, Jack looked about in panic. Hagrid could barely fit through a normal sized door on a good day. He was very likely about to bring the whole room crashing down. Jack darted out of Sirius’ line of sight, hopefully finding a sturdy cubby to hide in.

Sirius split his focus between the shield charm around Harry and watching Hagrid sidle into the room. The debris crunched horribly under Hagrid’s heavy feet. The room shook and Harry screamed a new level of terror.

The ceiling joists juddered towards Hagrid as his heavy feet crushed down to the uneven floorboards. Dust rained on Hagrid’s shaggy head, which seemed to take up a quarter of the room all on it’s own as he stopped around. Supporting himself with one hand on an unusually sturdy lump of debris —Sirius swallowed down bile as he forced his eyes away from the dusty copper filaments sticking out from his side of that pile— Hagrid lifted up on a picket. It turned out to still be attached to the side of Harry’s crib beneath the slew of rubble and all of it was tipped away, revealing the terrorized baby.

“Aw, there ye are,” Hagrid said in a way Sirius supposed qualified as cajoling. “No need ter fear, I’ve got yeh now.” With one giant hand, Hagrid scooped up Harry like a puppy. Harry had clearly not understood a word he’d said and screamed louder than ever. “Oh, I’m not gonna hurt yeh,” Hagrid promised, tucking Harry’s face, which now looked like a strange cross between a tomato and a beet, beneath his moleskin lapel.

Harry grabbed on tight with his little fists. Despite being muffled, he didn’t let up in the slightest on his crying as Hagrid stood. The hunched position the enormous man was forced into probably only made things worse as Hagrid stumped slowly towards the door.

When Hagrid had left the room, the whole ruin swaying ominously, a sudden burning in his lungs reminded Sirius to breathe. After a moment, during which Sirius carefully released his shield, the crumbling walls and sagging roof became still once more. Where was Jack? Had he gone out through some rupture in the wall?

Shining eyes caught the light, moving towards him in the shadows. Sirius stared back at the specter, dumbstruck.

Jack the rabbit melted out of the swirling gloom. He was determinedly rolling a vial across the rubble with his nose; a task made all the more difficult by the wand he was clutching in his mouth. Reaching the window, Jack pushed the vial towards Sirius. They shared a look.

“Thank you,” Sirius whispered.

The rabbit nodded graciously. A second later he nudged the vial then Sirius’ forehead with his plush muzzle.

“I will,” Sirius promised.

With a strong wiggle of his tail, Jack bounded off in a streak of magic, leaping up the street eighteen feet at a time.

Seriously considering laying his head on the grass and succumbing, Sirius pushed himself up to sitting. His head spun wildly, as though his brain fully intended to keep right on going and out his ear. Swamped in a wave of nausea, Sirius quickly inspected the vial.

The liquid inside was a indigo and viscous. Sirius knew this potion. Mending Mixture. It was a powerful restorative Lily and Snape had dreamed up during fifth year. It was incredibly difficult to brew, full of rare ingredients, and shockingly expensive, as Sirius remembered it, but it healed all manner of mechanically acquired injuries. Slughorn had been gaga for the stuff. Snape had been violently allergic to it.

Pulling out the stopper with his teeth, Sirius bolted back the potion. It tasted like ink. The oily liquid coated his mouth, stinging like acid in places. A moment later his chest burned and then a searing pain took over his head. Quite suddenly, Sirius felt perfectly normal, if slightly tingly about the feet. He stood up carefully, but his vision remained steady and his brain no longer sloshed about in his skull.

Brilliant!

Hagrid was calling for him. How long had that been going on?

Sirius jogged around the corner of the former house, finding Hagrid holding Harry —who spotted him and was once again screaming like a drowned banshee— in one arm on the brick path. Sprinting across the lawn, Sirius stumbled to a stop before the giant.

“Give Harry to me, Hagrid. I’m his godfather. I’ll look after him.” But Hagrid didn’t move. He was by no means incompetent with the baby, but he seemed to be falling into a state of shock, staring between the clotted cut on Harry’s head and the caved-in house.

Sirius wrenched off his mess jacket. “Give him here!” Reaching around Hagrid’s log-like limb, he gathered Harry to his chest. “I’m here, Harry. I’m here,” he cooed. With a whip-flick, Sirius transfigured the frayed and filthy mess jacket into a warm blanket. He wrapped Harry in the thick fabric, dancing from one foot to the other and making vague promises. Harry calmed quickly, hiccupping and burying his face in Sirius’ neck.

The sun finally broke the horizon and Sirius knew it was time to go. It was a small miracle that the village hadn’t been woken by the death eaters, the explosion, or the motorcycle, but morning was here and a commotion was inevitable. All that mattered was the bundle of boy in his arms and the last thing Harry needed was a bunch of concerned gawkers.

“This way.” Sirius led them quickly through the still deserted streets of Godric’s Hollow. Hagrid followed, sensibly rolling the motorcycle along with one hand. They made their way into the woods and out of sight. Before long they stopped, facing the sound of a car. It was a muggle patrolman, he turned a corner and moments later they heard distant sirens break the silent early morning air.

With the trees and the rest of the village between, Sirius couldn’t truly see what was happening, but he watched anyway, imagining the shock of finding the ruined cottage and the dozen bodies within. A few minutes passed and emergency vehicles began pouring into Godric’s Hollow. The inhabitants trickled from their homes, clutching dressing gowns and bathrobes tight against the chill morning, too curious to get properly dressed.

A large silver bird swooped down from the sky, winging its way silently between the trees. It alit on a low hanging branch, facing them. A phoenix; Albus Dumbledore’s Patronus. Dumbledore’s voice issued from its long, sharp beak. “Come to Hogwarts at once.”

No.

Sirius had no intention of taking a detour to Scotland. The missing link in all this was Peter Pettigrew, ex-best friend and biggest scumbag in existence. Every minute that rat got farther and farther away. Sirius had already wasted far too much time standing here watching the muggles. He couldn’t help James and Lily, now, all he could do was stop their murderer from escaping.

Fingering the silk stripe on his pantleg, Sirius drew his wand from the hidden pocket, He tapped it against his leg. Where to look first?

Suddenly, Hagrid’s large hand settled on his shoulders. “I don’t know what yer fixin’ ter do, but it’s best not ter take a baby with yeh.”

What?

No!

Sirius clutched Harry tightly. “He’s my godson.” He glared at Hagrid. “I can’t leave him! Not after— Not after…” Slammed by a wave of grief, Sirius ducked his head. James was dead. Harry was an orphan. The world was crumbling around him. A sob choked Sirius.

“Hey, now.” Hagrid pulled Sirius into a warm, wooly embrace. Sirius broke down completely. His knees went weak and he slumped against a giant shoulder, letting Hagrid take his weight. Hot tears rolled down his cheeks, soaking into Hagrid’s coat. His chest and eyes burned and before long terrible pains were shooting through his ribcage with every choppy wail.

Too much time slipped by before Sirius gasped himself back to reality. Time! Waste of time! GET A GRIP! Sirius inhaled a deep, shuttering breath and found his feet. He mopped his face with his free hand and wiped it on his trousers.

“Alright?” Hagrid asked. An instant later he grimaced sharply and hurriedly continued, “Well, not _alright_ alright. Nothing about this is alright, but… Better? Do yeh… feel better?”

Sirius coughed up a drowned laugh. “No,” he admitted. He’d pushed the storm back, for now, but it would catch up to him. Quickly, if he wasn’t careful. Sirius forced himself into grim composure. “We’re wasting daylight.”

Rage for Peter boiled within him, anew. It must have showed on his face.

“Aye.” It was placation, not agreement. “Yeh do whatever it is yeh’ve got ter do, and I’ll take Harry ter Hogwarts.”

“Hagrid, I—” Sirius argued, but he didn’t know what he was. He tried again, “Harry…” His need to care for Harry warred with his drive to catch Peter.

“Harry will be waiting for yeh at Hogwarts,” Hagrid assured. He gently lifted Harry from Sirius’ arms. Harry, who had been dozing, began to scream once more.

Suddenly, Sirius knew he wasn’t just going to find Peter and expose him. He was going to kill the little traitor. Torture him until he sung like a canary for the Order and then leave him in a mangled heap in a dumpster somewhere.

“You’ll be alright,” Sirius promised Harry. He kissed Harry’s temple and tucked him more securely into Hagrid’s arm. “I love you, Harry. I promise.” He took one last look at Harry’s stained face and felt the last tenuous thread of his self-control snap.

“Sirius?”

“Take my bike,” Sirius said with cold clam as he stalked away. “I won’t need it anymore.”


	4. Not a Chapter.  Looking for Fanfic.

There is another story in this world in the works, but the plot bunny has escaped. There's only a few paragraphs to go, so I should be able to catch him, soon. 

What happens next is of course the first chapter of Sorcerer's Stone.

As for the Fanfiction I'm missing, it's quite old and fairly long. We're talking mid to late 2000s. In it, Draco shows up on Snape's doorstep claiming that his father killed his mother. Snape takes him in while the situation with Draco's parents is sorted out. Draco spends the summer living with Snape's family in their low-rent apartment in Hogsmeade playing soccer with the local gangs.

If anyone is looking for some excellent fics, I can recommend these vintage reads:

Balance - in which, Hogwarts is attacked by a demon and then many things happen. https://www.fanfiction.net/s/599029/1/Balance

Yet Another Snape Meets the Dursley's Story - in which, desperate, Harry asks Snape for a potion during summer vacation, but gets the whole professor instead. https://www.fanfiction.net/s/601118/1/Yet-Another-Snape-meets-the-Dursleys-story

**Author's Note:**

> I think I have it worked out so that this doesn't interfere with canon, but if you see any plot holes, please let me know.
> 
> I STRUGGLED with the summary for this one; any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
> 
> I apologize if the relationship tags were misleading. It just isn't that type of story. But I have to get picked up by the search engine somehow.


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